A Sneak Peak at the New Kia Sorento SUV

Kia Motors on Tuesday offered a sneak preview at the new Sorento SUV to be released here later this year. It is expected to compete against Hyundai's Santa Fe, the best-selling SUV in the market.

The latest model comes in about 5 years after it was last modified in April 2009. It is Kia's first model that has undergone a series of tests at its new quality control center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The car was test-driven 1.1 million km, far enough to go around the earth 24 times, before mass production.

The length of the car has been increased by 95 mm to a total of 4,780 mm. The model also comes with a function that enables the engine to control itself, delivering fuel economy improvements. It is the first SUV made by Hyundai and Kia to feature the function.

The car has been available for pre-order since Aug. 12 and has already sold over 5,000 units.